Efficient License Plate Recognition For Law Enforcement

Motor vehicle theft increased by 6.6 percent in the United States in 2016, according to the FBI. However, advancements in license plate recognition (LPR) technology could help lower that statistic in the future. LPR allows law enforcement agencies to apprehend more wanted suspects and recover more stolen vehicles, all while improving the safety of those on duty.

Genetec’s AutoVu provides officers the most accurate and reliable LPR system in the industry, ensuring that thousands of plates can be read effortlessly during each shift and can be used with both fixed and mobile camera systems. This solution is made up of three main parts:

• AutoVu Sharp is a robust license plate camera that reads license plates of moving and parked cars.
• AuoVu Patroller is an in-vehicle software application that automatically checks and analyzes vehicle license plates against wanted vehicles and alerts officers.
• AutoVu Back-Office is an application that allows investigators to sift through data for further investigation.

Watch how one agency was able to increase their ability to read and analyze license plates from 20 per shift to now being able to process 2,000 per shift by using the AutoVu system.

Fuzzy Matching
Environmental factors like snow and dirt can make license plates difficult to read. The fuzzy matching feature improves verification of the license plate’s numbers and letters to ensure that even if a read is “fuzzy,” operators are still getting the best possible matches to the database of vehicles of interest. Fuzzy matching analyzes incomplete license plate reads, containing one or more errors, against a hotlist and then alerts the officer of any potential matches.

In-Vehicle Mapping
LPR includes intuitive graphical features, including in-vehicle mapping, to help with accuracy and to ensure administrators can remain effective while on duty. This information can be accessed within the vehicle or from the station. LPR also includes a mapping feature that provides administrators with a specific location, such as a street address.

Wildcard Hotlists
When only partial license plate numbers are available to identify a suspect vehicle, officers can create a wildcard hotlist database in order to rapidly identify potential hits. Notifications of hotlist hits can be identified with different sounds, colors, and priority assignments than those of definite matches.

Covert Hotlists
Covert hotlists are available to ensure the discretion of an on-going investigation or special operation. When a hit is identified, only the authorized officer at the Security Center station will be notified, while the in-vehicle patroller will not be alerted. This enables enforcement officials to assign multiple objectives to the vehicle and back-end systems, while not interrupting the priorities of officers on duty.

Automatic Events and Alarms
Administrators can receive automated alarms and events from the LPR system when a wanted or stolen vehicle is detected. This allows officials to prioritize and respond to the most urgent events.

Vehicle theft is increasingly prevalent, and LPR is a tool to make law enforcement agencies’ jobs easier when combating this threat. Relying on suspicions, manual plate entry, and dispatch confirmation can be tedious and time-consuming. LPR is an easy, efficient, and reliable solution.

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